A Serene Man from a Peaceful Island
by Chikushi
Summary: Otherwise known as Shizuo's ramblings. About moments in Shizuo's childhood or moments in his life. Obvious title is obvious. *WARNING: MILD SPOILERS* *RATING SUBJECT TO CHANGE*
1. Story 1: Kickball

**((NOTE: I played kickball the other day and was inspired... I am not too sure about how Kasuka would talk. But I tried my best. Doing another fic before finishing other ones again... Anyways enjoy~))**

A familiar man was walking down the streets of Ikebukuro. He seemed to be wearing a bartender suit and smoking a cigarette, and troubled. The man, Heiwajima Shizuo, has something on his mind. A few moments before this, he met his younger brother, Kasuka, near the park where kids where playing kickball. Of course due to his brother being a famous actor, there were a tremendous group of fans around him. As an older brother, he has the responsibility of watching over his little brother from afar. Just seeing him in person is more than enough for Shizuo, especially since Kasuka's always busy. It just happens that, Kasuka looked at the kids playing kickball and slightly smiled; slightly enough for no one else but Shizuo can see. Shizuo looked in to that direction and remembered that one time.

After a while, the park cleared up and no one but Shizuo stayed in place. The ball happened to just stop at his feet. A young boy called out, "Hey mister! Can you give us our ball," while waving his arm.

Shizuo tossed them back their ball and walked away. The children gave him their thanks. Shizuo lifted up his hand and continued walking. He looked towards the sky. He obviously remembered the time he played that game. It was so long ago, he had fun then till he… "Hey Celty."

Celty happened to be riding by and saw Shizuo with a different expression on his face. Different from what he'd normally make. The first thing that comes up to Celty's mind is, "Did you see your younger brother today?"

There was a slight pause, "Yeah."

"I can see why you're in a good mood today," Celty typed in return.

"It's not just only that," Shizuo replied as he fixed his shades. He didn't really need to hide it but that's just him.

"…" Celty wonders what it was. It was rare of Shizuo to have something else in mind, other than killing Izaya. Before Celty can ask her question Shizuo continued on with what he was saying.

"Today, I remembered the time I played kickball."

"Kickball?"

"That's right…"

It was back when Shizuo was a kid. It was a nice day out. Shizuo and Kasuka happen to be at the park with some other kids. However, everyone was afraid of Shizuo and didn't want to get near him with the exception of Kasuka. The kids invited Kasuka to play kickball but he insisted on staying with Shizuo. The kids ignored the two of them. Then Shinra who just happens to be going by came up to them. "Eh? How come you're not playing?"

". . . . ."

Around the time Shinra came, the teams were uneven. They were debating over it since the kids were very equal until they get to a certain age.

"A debate," Kasuka blankly announced.

"Really? Oh the teams are uneven. Maybe..." Shinra had an idea. So he walked over to the group of kids and asked, "Can Shizuo play? He might be a great addition to your team." The boys murmured to one another. They started to huddle and conversed. Shinra went back to Shizuo and Kasuka. Shinra told Shizuo to come over. The boys just finished with their conversation.

"Fine, you can play."

And so Shizuo was in the game. Three innings were played and Shizuo hasn't kicked yet. The game is relatively short but Shizuo's losing his patience. Near the end of the game, three people on his team are out field, three points away from beating the other team. Shizuo is up at bat. It is up to him to give his team a grand slam to win the game. The ball was pitched, Shizuo kicks the ball and it misses.

Semi-patience told him to try again. There isn't any out for not kicking three times since they're playing the abridged version. Everyone is losing their patience as Shizuo's bad timing is making the game more suspenseful and longer than it's supposed to be. Shizuo is tiring out from his kicks and the pitcher needs a breather so another pitcher was assigned.

The pitcher looked oddly familiar as if Shizuo's seen him somewhere when he thinks back on it. The pitcher grinned and pitched the ball. Shizuo misses again and everyone groaned. Shinra cheered him on, "Try your best Shizuo!"

Kasuka shortly followed, "Good luck big brother."

The pitcher started to laugh maniacally hard, "You couldn't even kick the ball I pitched so slowly. That's very interesting. Ahahaha!"

Upon hearing this Shizuo snapped and attempted to lift up the slide until Shinra decided to stop him, "You can release that anger on the ball you're about to kick."

That's right. He was still in the game. So he shifted his anger towards the game. The pitcher pitched again, this time he had a serious face. He is amused at Shizuo. Shizuo kicked the ball and it hit! The ball flew! And it flew towards the pitcher. The pitcher elegantly dodged it but it hit the second baseman and knocked him out. It was a grand slam. Literally.

"Hey! You should've caught the ball as the pitcher!"

"I knew the strength of that ball. Even if I caught it, I won't guarantee that I'll be able to catch it. Or end up like him," he noted as he gestured to the second baseman.

Shizuo's team won but they lost as well. The boy was out cold. His mother came to pick the boy up and saw her son on the floor. She hesitatingly questioned, "Who did this?"

The pitcher, who surprisingly resembles Izaya, accused Shizuo. Shizuo's mother happened to picked them up around that time. She apologized greatly on behalf of her son. Shizuo was punished severely. And he had to wear a cast, for he had sprained his ankle. The following day, Shizuo asked, "Kasuka, are you scared of me?"

"Why would I be scared of you? You're strong and you can protect others."

Shizuo smiled then he frowned, "I don't like that pitcher. He just get's on my nerves." Kasuka stayed quiet. And they walk home.

A familiar voice from behind them commented, "Oh. I remember that. That was funny. It reminds me of how much I hate Shizu-chan."

"I-Izaya-san, don't sneak up on people like that."

While Shizuo was talking about his _average_ childhood life, Izaya was walking by, hoping to bother his dear Shizu-chan. But he eavesdropped on the conversation and didn't want to interrupt. So he stood behind Celty and Shizuo. He hid himself well; even Shizuo who might have an Izaya detector couldn't sense him. Shizuo's good day and mood was ruined.

"Wait… That time… So the pitcher was you," Shizuo divulged. He really wished he didn't see Izaya today, Izaya, on the other hand, just wanted to push Shizuo's buttons. Shizuo grabbed the trash can right next to him and threw it at Izaya, "IIIIIZAAAAAAYAAAAA!"

Once again, Izaya elegantly dodged it. Celty tried to stop them but it didn't work. Shizuo ran after Izaya when Celty jumped in between Izaya and Shizuo—

"At that time, Izaya was already running away. Then I just rode my way back home," the text on the PDA appeared as.

"Oh, I remember that time now. It's been a long time."

Celty started to type, "Didn't I pick you up from the park that day? How come I didn't see Shizuo-san that day?"

Shinra thought a bit before answering, "Shizuo left earlier than I did." There was another pause. "The pitcher does seem very familiar now that I think about it. It might really be Izaya. Who would've thought he was like that as a kid too!"

"You're not that much different now than you were back then," Celty typed.

Today was indeed a mellow day.


	2. Story 2: Letters and?

**((Note: Again, not good, but not bad either. This one is surprisingly long. I had no idea how this story was about writing letters. Anyways, enjoy~))**

Here we see Shizuo again. Nothing's up really. He's just walking around Ikebukuro; while on the other side of Ikebukuro, Izaya is looking for Shizuo to do his daily "Shizu-chan tormenting" like he always does. Shizuo was just minding his business until he saw a balloon with something tied to it. The balloon was gently floating down and it landed right in front of him. He picked it up and saw that a letter was attached to it. Curious, he opened a letter and saw that it was sent by an elementary school kid. He remembered the time he had to do that. A letter… Did he every tie it to a balloon, he doesn't remember.

Shizuo reads the letter. It said to reply back. Shizuo didn't reply back. More like he'd rather not do so. He tied the letter back on to the balloon and set it free. Speaking of letters, he wondered what happened to the one he actually sent out. He thought as hard as he could and looked towards the sky. As he continued walking, he did remember sending one out. He did tie one to a balloon. He was never against doing the assignment but…

"This isn't eligible enough Heiwajima-kun," the teacher scolded. Shizuo just pouted and walked out.

"Why do I even have to do this anyways?" Shizuo throws a fit and kicks a trashcan. The kids around him ran away or fled to the wall. He personally didn't even want to do the letter, but there is a side of him that does want to do it. He was grumbling to himself and he saw Kasuka. Kasuka was a little worried and his face slightly shows it.

"… Did a teacher yell at you again...?"

".. Not really… Let's go home."

Kasuka nodded and they both set off to walk home. Kasuka, being quiet as he is, is more quiet than usual. Shizuo noticed that he glances over to him then look back. Shizuo wonders what's with Kasuka and as an older brother he should know what's up, "Kasuka? Something wrong?"

Kasuka looks over to Shizuo and shakes his head. Then they walk past that little familiar shop. Shizuo stopped. He turned to see that the store clerk of that shop walk up to them.

"You're always covered up in bruises and bandages. Are you alright?"

Shizuo slightly blushes. This isn't the first time it happened but this time... "I-I'm alright."

"How about I give you two a glass of milk," the lady said with a smile while handing two bottles of them. She petted both of them on their head afterwards.

"T-thank you again…"

"It's alright. You're a growing boy. Is something bothering you? You can tell me about it?"

Shizuo would tell her but he's a little embarrassed to go into detail. But he told her about what was on his mind, "I have to write some letter and tie it to a balloon. I keep having to do it over again. It's hard to write a letter with a broken arm and—"

The lady started to giggle. Shizuo blushed even more, "I-it's not funny…" Shizuo pouts.

She pats Shizuo's head again, "I remember the time I had to do that as well." Shizuo looked at her curiously in awe. The kind lady continued, "Write what you want in that letter. I know that it's the hardest part to do especially with a broken arm." The lady smiled. Her words calmed Shizuo.

Kasuka looked as if he was learning from this as well. "Thank you," Shizuo said.

"Don't mention it. Good luck."

"Mm," Shizuo confidently nodded, "Let's go Kasuka."

And they both continued home. The regular things happened at home but Kasuka seems to be avoiding Shizuo. Their parents can see that so they decided to ask him. Kasuka remained quiet about this but looked to the side to his backpack. They asked if they can look in to his bag and he nodded yes. In his bag, they found a letter. Then everything became clear. They asked if they can read it, Kasuka shook his head, but even so they read it anyways. His parents started to tease him because of his letter. Kasuka started to blush, for a slight bit. This is good news to his parents. Shizuo stormed out of his room and screamed, "What's with the noise? I'm trying to do my homework!"

Everything became extremely quiet. Then Shizuo marched back to his room. And his parents continued to pinch and tease Kasuka but more quietly.

Meanwhile, Shizuo was trying to finish his letter. He was scratching his head and looks extremely displeased with what he wrote. So, he crumpled up his paper and threw it in the trash. "Grr… Why is it so hard to write whatever? Who even does this stupid assignment? Oh, right us." Shizuo stared at the blank piece of paper for a while. He still doesn't understand what to do.

He tried to emulate other people's letters like the ones he saw in dramas, but that didn't seem to work for him. The papers in the trash started to build up; it went over the capacity of the trash can three hours later. It was late, past his curfew, but he still didn't finish. Kasuka was awake and watching Shizuo by the door. After a few minutes he left, Shizuo looked at the door then continued doing his work. Shizuo was working really hard on this letter, most likely because he didn't want to fail the assignment otherwise... Shizuo didn't even want to think about it.

Shizuo looked at his door again, this time he sees a shadow. He walked towards the door, opened it to see Kasuka sleeping in front of it. He had a blanket and was holding a glass of milk with a note attached to it.

"… Let this help you think…"

Shizuo looked at the glass of milk and remembered what the clerk said. Everything became clear, "Thank you." Shizuo sat down and started to write the letter and drink the milk.

It was morning, "Shizuo! You're going to be late for school."

Shizuo bounced up unhappy. But he had to go to school anyways. Shizuo hurried to get ready and ran to school; he barely made it on time. He gave the letter to his homeroom teacher to take a look. The teacher smiled and approved the letter.

Then it was off to tying them on to a balloon. Shizuo tied his and released it with the wind. Shizuo was for once proud of his work. Later on that day, the class Kasuka was in had to give a letter to someone in Shizuo's class. Odd enough, Kasuka picked his own brother. Not because he wanted to, it was because he drew his own brother's name in the box.

Kasuka stood there then one of Shizuo's classmates snatched the letter from him and read it aloud to everyone. Kasuka retreated to the nearest wall he can find. What Kasuka wrote about Shizuo was enough to make him blush. Shizuo went over to that classmate and snatched the letter away from him, "Thank you Kasuka."

Kasuka smiled slightly and nodded. Afterwards, Shizuo rampaged. Then what happened after that…

Shizuo came back to his senses to find himself standing in a familiar street. It was nostalgic. He turned his head to see a familiar shop that seemed to have gone out of business. Or maybe it was closed. Then he remembered what happened on that day afterschool…

Shizuo and Kasuka were walking home from school. Shizuo was in a good mood today because he finally finished the assignment and he will see that woman again. Then, Shizuo and Kasuka looked to the side to see that that woman was being harassed by a group of _jerks_. Shizuo was enraged to the point where he snapped whatever the thing he was holding in his hand, Kasuka saw and knew he was mad. Shizuo barged in and not only destroyed the shop and the jerks but hurt that kind woman. For the first time, Shizuo was hurt inside. Afterwards, he didn't see that woman again.

Then a woman went up to Shizuo, she looked familiar, "Ah. May I help you?"

"I'm ok. Thanks."

"You reminded of this young boy I met a long time ago. I never got to thank him for saving me that day."

"Is that so?"

"Yep…"

"That shop… It brings back so much."

"…" Shizuo quietly excused himself and continued walking like he usually does. He wondered what happened to his letter...

The balloon was floating idly in the air and it was popped by a boy who was throwing darts and threw one out the window. The boy picked up the letter. He grinned and said, "Heiwajima Shizuo?"

The same exact letter was held right in front of Shizuo's face. "IZAYAA! What is this shit?"

"Oho! You forgot the letter you wrote?" Izaya grinned and started to read it out loud, "Hello. My name is Heiwajima Shizuo. I hate vio—" At that time, Shizuo threw the nearest thing he can get which was a trash bin that Izaya dodged. Izaya continued, "I hate violence. I have a normal family, a mother, father, and a younger brother, Kasuka. I don't know what to say about me. But I really like this lady I met the other day—"

Shizuo grabbed on to the next closest thing he can get, which was a stop sign, and swinged it at Izaya.

"Oh, how cute Shizu-chan," Izaya taunted.

"IIIZAAAAYAAAAAAA!" And so it begins— err... ends once again. It's like Déjà vu all over again, on repeat.


	3. Story 3: A Man's Best Friend

**((Note: I would like to thank my friend for this great idea! And I find this a fan fic worth writing. When Shizuo's not pissed, he does this. Anyways...**

**PLEASE REVIEW THIS STORY and others if you have the chance to! Not much to ask really. I think I do a bad job when nobody says anything about it. Way too many line breks. I might need to take some out later... Wow.. This is a fairly long story I typed this time.**

**Well, enjoy~))**

Today starts out like it usually does. And it usually ends in the same way. There seems to be two familiar men walking down the street. No words were exchanged between the two men but a simple gesture pointing in the opposite direction. A dog was following them and it seems to be attracted to one of them, the guy leaned down to pet it but the dog back away. The man tried it again and it was the same result. As they were about to leave, a name was heard.

"Hey Shizuo," Tom gestured to the man down the corner.

"Huh," Shizuo looked at Tom then looked to the direction he was pointing to and saw the man he just absolutely hates. He wanted to kill that man right this instant but seeing to the trouble he's in at the moment, he decided to leave him be. He looked at the dog one last time, "Be careful." Shizuo got up and continued on ahead with Tom following. Tom was a bit surprised that Shizuo didn't attack him.

Then they both left the scene. At the exact moment when they were leaving, Izaya peered over and saw his beloved enemy. Then an idea struck him, "Ah! Why don't we discuss this another day? I'm very sure we will have more to talk about then. I'm very sure everything will go as planned…" And he makes a mischievous grin as he used that as an excuse and ran away from the trouble he got himself in. His client just stood there and was just annoyed by Izaya. But knowing him, he has this "thing" with Shizuo.

"Isn't it a little weird that every time you have a moment, in the end, Izaya interrupts?"

"… Yeah…" There was a moment of silence before Shizuo started again but in a much more fierce tone, "It always ends with that bastard."

"He, who, shall not be named."

"Then why don't we start off with me then?"

Izaya, holding on to a cat, was taunting Shizuo by holding the thing up to his face. He knew that there is a huge chance that he won't attack him when there's something like an innocent stray cat. His hypothesis and fact being true, Shizuo didn't attack him but was extremely pissed by his presence. Tom, out of nowhere, came and took the cat out of Izaya's hands thus making it possible for Shizuo to attack Izaya. Izaya didn't think that it would happen but he had his thoughts. So Shizuo picks Izaya up and threw him to the nearest wall. It made a loud splat sound, the civilians just looked at this as if it was nothing and continued on to the things they do every day, and Izaya got up staggering for a few seconds. Shizuo then picked up the mailbox and threw at Izaya. Izaya elegantly dodged this one this time.

"Oho! You can land a hit on an injured person? That's a little sad actually." Izaya grinned and took out his flick-blade. He charged at Shizuo and gave him a couple of cuts here and there to prove his point. Shizuo, more enraged than before, snapped while Izaya started to run away, "Izaayaaa!"

And so the chase begins a little earlier than usual. "Here we go again huh? It's been happening a lot lately," Tom noted while petting the stray cat from before.

* * *

"Shit. That Izaya! …" It was a fairly long chase but in the end, he still didn't catch Izaya. It seemed predetermined that he would never be able to catch him, so he's letting out his frustrations. Then he caught a glimpse of Kasuka, more like at his picture. He seemed to be holding a puppy for a particular drama he is starring in. And he was thinking of that stray cat Izaya was holding at first. Then Shizuo remembered something about—

* * *

It was sometime when he was a young fellow. Of course, at that time in life, everyone wanted to have a pet. But due to his case, his parents forbade him to have pets. Who knows what might happen to them? Shizuo, being a kid, at the time didn't really understand why his parents did this but after that incident… He finally figured out why. He was perfectly fine about it, but deep down inside, he wanted a pet. His parents gave him a couple goldfish, even though they don't do much, he found them easy to handle. Since they're goldfish, they ended up dying after a month, Shizuo was displeased about this. Kasuka seemed a little grieved by it too since he liked the couple of goldfish as well.

The two boys were walking home one day and they saw the fence they pass by every day. They never really crawled through the hole that was there near the one of the broken planks of the fence. But today, they decided to crawl through that hole to see what was in that fenced up abandoned area. They crawled in and didn't see anything. They walked around to see if they find anything interesting but they found nothing. As Shizuo was about to exit the hole, Kasuka pointed something out.

"Brother, that."

"Huh?" Shizuo looked behind him and there was a little puppy, wagging its tail and looking up at him. Shizuo turned around and petted the puppy. Kasuka shortly came over to pet it as well. It seems that this puppy is the last of the other puppies that sadly left the world. But this puppy didn't give up on hope. Shizuo took out some food he had in his backpack and gave it to the poor thing. It started to eat the food he put out then Shizuo and Kasuka left, "We'll come back tomorrow. Just wait for us!" The boys then rushed back home, hoping to see the puppy again.

The next day they decided to visit the puppy again. They stopped by the pet store to get some dog food first, they bumped in to Shinra. He seems to be by himself today, "Eh? Shizuo-kun, I thought your parents didn't let you have pets."

"Hmm? Oh, this is for the stray dog we found yesterday." Shinra looked over to Kasuka, Kasuka nodded in response to Shinra's wonder.

"Eh? I wanna see! Can I?"

"… Fine, but keep it a secret."

"All right, your secret is safe with me." Shizuo nodded and looked at Kasuka. He seemed a little hesitant to give a nod of approval but he nodded. The three of them set off to the abandoned area.

"Ow! I got a splinter!"

"Stop whining."

The moment they went in to the place, the puppy ran up to them. It was growling at Shinra because he was new. The puppy glares at Shinra, "Shizuo-kun, can you please tell the puppy I'm a good guy?"

"Oh. It's all right. He's our friend." After hearing those words, the puppy stopped growling and walked over to Shinra to get petted by a new face. They then feed the puppy and Shizuo and Shinra talked while Kasuka was playing with the puppy, "Say, did you guys give it a name yet?"

"Hmm? Not yet."

"Why not give it one now?"

"Like what?"

"Hmm… How about—"

"Yuki." Shizuo and Shinra looked at Kasuka, who was still playing with the little puppy, "Because it's white and fluffy." It became quiet until Shinra broke the silence.

"It's not a bad name!"

"Then from now on, you're Yuki," Shizuo added. The puppy barked with joy. It finally has a name, especially a unisex name, just in case it turned out to be the other gender. They played with the dog the entire day. It was sunset and it seems that this warm summer day has come to an end.

The following day, it was a rainy day. But it felt warm and nostalgic. Shizuo and Kasuka were worried about Yuki. They waited and waited for the rain to stop but it showed no signs of clearing up anytime soon. Shizuo couldn't take it anymore, put on his raincoat, and ran out the house. Kasuka slowly followed Shizuo, tagging along behind him.

When Shizuo got to the site, it was already too late. The whole area had been cleared and the puppy was nowhere to be found. Shizuo walked to a particular spot and stood there. Kasuka then entered the area. He held the umbrella over his brother's head and said, "It's alright. I'm very sure it wants you to be happy… Dead or alive…"

"Yeah…"

The sound of rain that covered up the silent tears that couldn't fall down that poor boy's face and the two stood there. Afterwards, the rain cleared up, showing a beautiful sunset sky. All has ended and the two boys continued home. When they got home, there was a clear night sky and the two boys looked out the window and wondered where little Yuki has gone. The last rain of the summer has passed.

* * *

"…I think I saw Yuki again after that," Shizuo scratched his head. He couldn't quite recall what happened. Then he turned his head to see a familiar location. Then he remembered, "Ah, right. That happened."

* * *

It had been a year since that incident and by then, Shizuo had already putted it at the back of his mind. Then he was approached by a couple of thugs. He was defending himself the best he could but they were just too big for him until he heard a bark, "Gah!"

The man then got out of the dog's grip and kicked him, "That dog bit me." But the dog won't give up. He started to attack the two men and Shizuo tried to help out by doing what he can with the strength he had back then. In the end, the police came and got the two men but the dog couldn't be saved. It risked its life trying to protect Shizuo.

Shizuo wondered why he looked so familiar then it all became clear. It was Yuki. Shizuo was shocked, he thought that Yuki had run away or took a turn for the worse but the dog was right there. In its last moments, Yuki saw that Shizuo remembered him and went with a peaceful face. It was happy that Shizuo remembered.

What happened after that became a blur, Shizuo wondered what happened next. Other than staying in the hospital for a few days and eating the gross hospital food. Then he heard a voice, "Hey Shizuo," it was Tom coming over to Shizuo holding on to the stray cat from earlier, "Any luck today?"

"…" Shizuo wasn't in a good mood that's for sure. Then Tom said, "Where did the cat at first go? Oh."

The cat seemed attached to Shizuo as its rubbing its cheek on Shizuo's leg, "I think the cat likes you." Shizuo kept staring at the cat. Then he bent down to pet it.

"At least this one didn't back away from you, Shizuo."

"Yeah."

"Have you had pets before?"

"Yeah…" Shizuo then told Tom the story, that nostalgic moment he had while trying to find his way back to the familiar streets of Ikebukuro…

* * *

"So that's what happened."

"Yep," Shizuo blew some smoke out, "Today seemed fast paced…"

"Yeah, it sure did."

Today was indeed an early day but not fast enough for it to end.


End file.
